Sakura Kristal :: Calm, Serene, Relaxing Atmosphere with great food!

This entry is special in itself. It was lunch at Sakura Kristal a few weeks back with Mazlan on his 30++ birthday. By the by, Mazlan is this guy who came into my life and swept me off my feet at a rate of 343 m/s; thats the speed of sound at regular atmospheric pressure in 20 degrees celcius. For us audio engineers, the frequency domain does have it's benefits: for one thing, nobody probably understands what we talk about to each other mostly because it's below 20 Hz. Like now.

The menu

The original plan for Mazlan's birthday was actually the KL tower for lunch, over a pseudo-romantic view of KL in the hot blazing sun as we sip on fizzy apple asam boi not holding hands. But at the last minute we did a detour and instead attended a business talk somewhere in KL that morning, visited his mom in Melawati in the afternoon, followed by my grandmom in Sungai Buluh in the evening and finally coffee with his old school friends in Hartamas later that night. Talk about a Saturday full of new introductions. We couldn't fit in (DS) Najib if we wanted to. Not that we wanted to. No, definitely not.

View from where we sat. Hills in the  background.

I so so loved the place. It was open-air and vast! The tent of a ceiling was some 100 feet above, so lots of fresh air. There was a mild breeze coming from green hills you could see in the distance, and a gigantic propeller for a fan that looked like it had been confiscated from one of those old ancient planes the Wrong brothers crashed. The menu was not bad either: a wide variety of local and western cuisine at pretty reasonable prices. I was so impressed with the place, I presented Mazlan with a small birthday present which I had actually thought of saving for next year. It was that nice~.

Do stop by the restaurant if you are in the Zoo Negara area. If only for the serenity and calming effect if not for the half-starved animals. It definitely worked for me.

Mine. Fetuccini alfredo. Delicious. I wiped the plate clean.

His. Nasi goreng black pepper steak. He wiped the plate clean!

Having fed me really well, (and some private breathing exercises),  he took me to meet his mom. And for the record, it was a good meeting, alhamdulillah. :)

Jasmine Tea. A++

Sakura Kristal
Taman Melawati, Kuala Lumpur

Cleanliness: A
Food: A
Price: I am guessing around RM50 for two people. Thank you Mazlan!
Satisfaction Level: A++
Service: A
Atmosphere: A+++ (I loved it, I can set up camp there).





p/s thank you to my regular visitors. Sorry I haven't been updating a lot lately. Will catch up soon. Insya'Allah.

Madam Kwan's ~ Authentic Fusioned Food :P



Ningy one day before flying back to China.
Circa 2012.



So this was a Ningy and Shima lunch session. We haven't had one of those in so long we were almost polite to each other. In the beginning. Before she bombarded me with questions from the scandalous picture of a few adorable kids I posted on FB. On Ningy's end, she is no longer with her old yoga place, and tomorrow she had a flight to catch to Beijing. It was a good time to get together and do a food review before the next accumulation of overwhelmingly exciting news.

Madam Kwan had recently opened up a new branch in Alamanda. In retrospect, I have had a few invites to Madam's a few times in the past so I have always had this assumption that the place must be really good. I don't quite get the tags on the place though:

Cafe. Okay. Cuisine. Okay. Nasi Lemak. Huh?

Kwanies must not have yet met my post-doc supervisor who would have gone crazy beserk at the sudden inconsistency in noun usage. Definite re-write and six months worth of corrections right there.



Bojori fried rice. That there is an egg. FYI.

The thing about Ningy is that she's really good at picking which dishes to order, which is why I am always dragging her along when we visit a new place. The bojori fried rice she ordered was really delicious. My mushroom chicken rice with soup and grated ginger was okay too, although I suspect the dish has more MSG in it than all the other ingredients combined.

The cendol and ABC was up to standard for the higher-than-average price we paid for it. But the deco at the place was really cosy and more than made up for it.

For now, I'd say Madam Kwan is really good and very comfortable. A fusion of Malay-Chinese specialties that gives authenticity a whole new meaning, priced just right for the average professional who's taking her time applying for that promotion because she is still editing an authentic paper one of her authentic students sent her.

Chicken mushroom rice. B!

Go to Kwanies and order the Bojori. Thanks Ningy.

Madam Kwans

Alamanda, Putrajaya

Cleanliness: A

Food: B+ (MSG-licious)

Price: RM70 for two people including desert

Satisfaction Level: A

Service: A

Atmosphere: A

Restoran Baser (a new experience with deer!)

This is one of Izham's bright ideas to get me to try something new so that I'd have something different to blog about. That's the best thing about Izham, he's always full of encouragement. "You should write more" he would say, or, "there's this ________ you need to try", or, "don't worry, I will let you know if you put on weight". Ok, well, it didn't sound so obvious in BM. But I am expecting an extra large Raya hamper from his company to make up for that last sentence.

Udang masak merah.
So sedap with the nasi goreng. A!

Baser is this really cosy place at Bandar Puteri Puchong that serves cute animals for dinner: deer! (hmm, would that be suku-sakat Bambi or the notorious kancil? I wonder). According to their website, they are quite well-known in Johor for their nasi briyani and nasi ayam. Since 1978 apparently.

Nasi goreng ayam. A+!

As a consequence of their established popularity, Izham booked us a table for iftar yesterday. And I had silently hoped we didn't get to share tables with some monotonous couple who barely spoke to each other like we did last time. Wish granted. We got our own table. That's an A+ right there already for Baser.

The bubbly waitress took our order as soon as we arrived. Izham ordered the deer briyani for me and I obligingly obliged. He had wanted me to try deer for a while now, assured me its halal, and that in real life the animal wasn't really that adorable. Then he went ahead and ordered the fried chicken rice for himself. :|

The food was good, but I thought the atmosphere at the place was great~. I am always happy to see families eating together and cute little boys standing on their chairs ready to fall off any minute as they go through their food. They seem like they're unsteady, you know, but not really. Watching them while you eat is like munching salt-free pop-corn at a horror-suspense movie. Very versatile are kids nowadays.

My deer briyani!!!

On food, the nasi briyani was nice for briyani, but if Mr Baser re-named it nasi minyak, I would say awesome. The deer tasted like really tough chicken liver to me but that's because I am inexperienced with deer, so my brain was in transient and got confused at this new protein; unlike someone I know who's had it since he was a kid because his father hunts wildlife with a rifle like the dude from National Geographic. That must have been one awesome childhood. 

All in all, it was a cool, interesting and enjoyable deer-tasting experience. And Alhamdulillah a few thousand times, for the great food we had and for the ability and opportunity to enjoy it. Izham casually mentioned landak few times throughout our conversation. That's the technique he used to get me to try deer. I hope there are no landak restaurants in Malaysia. I am sticking to fish and chicken.

This is an Izham recommended
restaurant! Two thumbs up!

Restoran Baser
Bandar Puteri Puchong, Puchong

Cleanliness: A
Food: B++ (I am new to deer, but A for the udang!)
Price: ~RM35 for two people with drinks. I would think. Thanks Izham :))
Satisfaction Level: A
Service: A
Atmosphere: A++ (malay style hustle and bustle, complete with police officers outside)

Ana Ikan Bakar Petai ~ terlampau menawan selera

Sheemz's stamp of approval. GO!

I am blogging on a Friday night because the ikan bakar was too good to be true.  I know for a fact that Izham sped at approx. 150 km/hour all the way from Puchong to Bangi secure in the thought that nothing in the ikan bakar category can beat his precious Ala Kassim. After the meal, however, he gracefully conceded and agreed Ana was delicious. True, Ala Kassim was great and still is, but Ana Ikan Bakar was absolutely marvelous. 5 star quality. Pure genius. Einsten. M Nasir. You get the idea.

We went there for moreh so we didn't order a lot: just one medium size kerapu ala bakar petai style. The waiter served  the drinks as we anxiously (Izham) and excitedly (me) waited for the big dish to arrive. It came wrapped in banana leaves with two sauces in little bowls on top. 

We unwrapped the dish carefully like it contained some precious metal*. This is what it looked like inside: (drum roll...)

Ta daaaa~~ (the camera got blurry out of excitement and failed to focus)

My carrot-apple kosong. And somebody's
teh tarik.

The rest is history. You have got to try it to believe it. I personally am marking my calendar right now to bring my entire army of a family for dinner here in the near future. If my sister hadn't already married, I would have booked the place for her reception. To think that the restaurant is only like 500 m away from where I live and I never even cared to review it. Thank you Ala Kassim.

I have yet to try out the other items on the menu, but for now, am just definitely pleased to order the petai dish again. Izham did casually mention one important fact though. We had sotong, prawns, a good-sized siakap and drinks at Ala Kassim for RM65. We just had fish and drinks here and the bill came out to be RM41. Which means....Ala Kassim wins in the monetary department (if we drove from Melaka that is, *cough*).. But then again, consider the fact that Bangi is this future metropolitan city with restaurants conveniently located right next to the fire station. Plus petai is expensive. So RM41 ain't bad. At all.

Believe it or not, this is the menu.

So, if you are looking for healthy, delicious food at possibly the safest location in Bangi, please go straight past Warta and make a left turn after the police station, and you, my friend, will find it. Before ending this review, I leave you with 8 final words of advice: pack a good toothbrush with extra-strength colgate. 

My kind of restaurant.

Ana Ikan Bakar

Bandar Baru Bangi, 
(exit Tol Bangi from Lebuhraya KL-Seremban. Take first left at roundabout, do first possible u-turn. Turn left after bomba)


Cleanliness: B+
Food: A++ the budu sauce was the king of all sauces.
Price: RM41 for kerapu bakar petai, 2 white rice and drinks. Thank you Izham :D
Satisfaction Level: A
Service: A
Atmosphere: A

p/s Surau and playground facilities available. Its like a little Kampung Ana Petai village.

*gold lah. Apa lagi..

Eating Etiquette of the Muslim

After the briyani excursion, we stopped by Masjid Negara for prayers and terawih.  The mosque was lovely.
My first terawih ever here. Alhamdullillah~~ 

Since the author of this blog is a muslim girl who is always on the path to self-improvement, she would like to stick in a special entry here as a reminder to herself and her little group of readers, with the hopes that some great benefit would come out of it. After all, the path to success is already well-defined. It is through the example of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). And may it be that the small effort that we put in through these small practices, will enable the Prophet (s.a.w) to recognize us as his loyal followers on the Day when we need every single help we can get.

From Salman, Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: The blessing of food is (received) by washing the hands before and after taking it. (Tirmidhi, Dawud).

Cleanliness is very important in Islam.

Umar b Abu Salalama said: "I was under the care of Allah's Messenger and my hand used to pick at random in the dish, so Allah's Messenger said to me: Invoke the name of Allah, and eat with your right hand, and eat what is near you". (Muslim)

Be grateful with what is presented to you.

From Abu Huraira: "Allah's Messenger never found fault with food. If he liked something he ate it, but if he disliked it, he (just) abstained from it". (Muslim) 

So you'll probably see from now on, me only recommending good food. But I will still fire the restaurant if I feel like it :P

Anas said that the Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: Allah is indeed pleased with His servant who, when he eats a morsel, praises Him for it, or drinks a sip and then praises Him for it". (Muslim)

Be a grateful servant of Allah-- always.

From Umar: Allah's  Messenger (s.a.w) said: "Eat together and do not separate, for the blessing is in the company". (Ibn Maja)

A family that eats together, sticks together. 

From Abu Huraira: Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: "Food for two is sufficient for three and food for three is sufficient for four".

Avoid waste. Share. 

From Ja'far b Muhammad, from his father: Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) when he ate with other people, was usually the last to finish eating. (Baihaqi)

Put others first when eating.

Aisha said that Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: When any one of you eats, he should invoke the name of Allah the Exalted. If he forgets to invoke the name of Allah the Exalted at the beginning, he should say (when he remembers): In the name of Allah, in its beginning and it's end (Bismillahi Awalahu wa Akhiru). (Abu Dawud, Tarmidhi)

And that is the whole purpose of our creation-- worship Allah.

May our small efforts please Allah. Selamat berpuasa!

Insaf: ordinary place, outstanding briyani!

My nasi briyani and chicken ayam madu.
So gorgeous.. A++

When Izham told me he wanted to take me to the best briyani place in the whole of Malaysia, I was pretty skeptical. Best briyani place? In Malaysia, really? Briyani tastes the same everywhere, and FCM has briyani that is good enough already. For me at least. And for Miza too, my personal consultant on mamak food and mamak food expert.

We arrived around 6:45 pm, the time we were told to arrive before they confiscated our table and handed it over to someone else. The restaurant was quaint, sweet and squeeky clean, and reminded me of those small cafe's in Portugal that had a big Hola signboard outside only the locals knew about. There were few people seated already looking starved. Two bored looking couples who didn't look like they knew each sat together at the next table, and it eventually dawned on me that the restauranteurs seated them randomly to save on space. Thank goodness we had our own table -- I thought, before an odd couple from Bangsar were seated beside us few minutes later. 

Apples that rock~~

Mango juice and veggie acar. A++

When the azan finally came on, the restaurant was in full-blown bustling mode. We both ordered the nasi beriyani with ayam madu, and, in the anticipation, I forgot to ask for chicken thigh and got a big chunk of chicken breast plopped onto my rice. The meal also included veggie acar, dal sauce, dates, an apple each, mineral water and mango juice. And though I was enjoying the evening I still was a bit skeptical about the whole Best-Briyani-in-Malaysia-business Izham was selling me. So I took my time munching on my apple and watched everyone dig into their food wholeheartedly. Even the couples at the next table seem to be friendlier to each other after buka. It's called briyani-breaking.

By the way, the apple was so crunchy and sweet, I would have gone to eat there if only for the apple. 

Finally, in deliberate slo-mo, I started on my briyani. And from the first mouthful, I was literally blown away~. It was so gorgeous. Better than Bangi's briyani house 3 times over, and better than FCM's by more than 7 on the Richter scale. The chicken, although breast-meat, was incredibly tender for some incomprehensible reason. I wonder what the chefs put in it. I guessed ginger, but I couldn't even taste a hint. I guess we'll never know unless I work there.

There you have it, I concur, hands in the air, you were right, the best briyani I have ever tasted, and trust me, I have tried briyani all over the united nations including Saudi, Dubai, London and New York. The uncle slipped the bill under my plate, so I knew how much our meal cost, as if he subtlety wanted me to know how grateful I should be! Alhamdulillah! And thank you Izham, for the apple.

jazakallahukhairan kasiran!

Restoran Insaf
Jalan TAR, Kuala Lumpur
(address and phone number on left)

Cleanliness: A
Food: A++
Price: RM40 complete meal for 2 people. Add RM5 for parking at the back.
Satisfaction Level: B+ I wished we didn't share tables. It was a squish and a squeeze.
Service: A - fast and friendly
Atmosphere: A. Friendly Malaysian hospitality. Like MAS. Except the waiters dressed appropriately.

Rasa Utara (ala Tun Mahathir~)

From left: Sheemz, Nadiaz, Ninaz, and Mizaz (the birthday girl)

This is a back-dated entry from the last Wednesday before Ramadhan Kareem, which we visited to celebrate Miza's birthday. We were checking out Shaftsbury Avenue in Cyberjaya and Rasa Utara seemed to be the most dependable place there compared to the other newly opened restaurants that looked like western bistro's awaiting their sijil halal certification.

Laksa. Sedap. Go for it.

The place is right by the escalator on the first floor and the deco was nice and simple. We managed to get a table right smack in the center of activity and ordered immediately--seeing as I had a 2pm class that afternoon and didn't want to maintain my reputation of always being late to class; a new Ramadhan resolution.

Nadia gives the Mee Rebus an A++

Everyone was pretty excited that day as I recall. It was--after all--Miza's 2046/52.46153 birthday, although she barely looks over 25. Miza's birthday celebration comes in 2 parts: this is Part I. Part II will have some sort of cake dish and will be held sometime during raya insya'Allah. The reason for the 2-part celebration is because Cyber is highly lacking in awesome restaurants, so to compensate we replace one big lunch at an awesome restaurant with lunch at 2 great restaurants instead. Yes, she's very special and we take good care of her.

Nadia ordered mee rebus and me and Miza both ordered asam laksa Utara (apparently Tun Mahathir's favourite dish--it said so on the menu). Asam laksa is healthy for you because it is entirely fish boiled in water with bits of veggies and herbs. My laksa had two big pieces of succulant fish in it (I think it's ikan kembong, I am not so good with fish names), which surprised me (with delight) somewhat.

Ramadhan buffet for buffet lovers.
Jangan membazir ok. Satu pertiga je perut untuk
makanan. Sepertiga lagi untuk air.
And yang lebihnya untuk angin. ;D

Nina didn't order anything. She already had her lunch with her Perbandaran Sepang office-mates and besides, there wasn't anything else in the menu that Tun Mahathir liked. I suspect she's on a diet.

Nadia's mee rebus tasted really good, and she was all over it with enthusiasm, a very rare scene to  behold. She usually has quite mild reactions to good food, something about people from Melaka which I noticed. She must have been either very hungry that day or northern food must really be her thing.

Await for Miza's birthday celebration Part II. We might come back here again and order the big fried fish entree in the wild bamboo tray like the table behind us. Those men were really packing themselves in for Ramadhan.

Rasa Utara
Shaftesbury Avenue, Cyberjaya, MALAYSIA 
not London or some other Western country

Cleanliness: A
Price: ~RM70 food for 3 people, drinks for 4. 
Satisfaction Level: A. Nadia gives it an A+
Service: A waiter was too good to be true
Atmosphere: A. Malay-style.

Ala Kassim!! (best ikan bakar in Malaysia--for now)

There's the ikan, and the squid and the udang, and the nasi lemak :)

I guess I have extended my hunting territory beyond Cyberjaya, Kajang and Bangi because in this post I am going to cover Melaka. To warm up for the big review, you know how in the movies, the deliriously sensitive guy sweeps the middle-class girl of her feet and takes her for a day trip to another city for dinner--in a private jet--to some high-rise restaurant with a view of the entire city on a starlit night? Well this is a supremely washed-and-ironed-down version of that movie. It was a trip to the state next door for ikan bakar, who according to my business partner is the best ikan bakar in the whole of Malaysia (that's bold and italic right there for emphasis)... and worth the 2 hour-commute one-way in a road vehicle, in the rain. Yes, that's how special the ikan bakar is.

Sotong goreng.  My favourite! A+

Udang panggang. Nice and fresh.

We arrived right before maghrib to this row of open-air restaurants, somewhere in the middle of Melaka, supposedly by the sea or river (though I couldn't see it). The raw seafood is on display on a table near the front, fish-market style and you get to pick which one you wanted. We got a fish, some squid and a basket of prawns.

Nasi lemak paling sedap di Malaysia, kalah
nasi lemak Antarabangsa..

So here's how the grilled fish is eaten. They load a basket of small nasi lemaks onto the table in front of you and you can eat however much you want with your seafood. The rice, I must say was simply delicious. The sambal in the rice was awesome too, though you can barely taste it, it was so sikit. The sauce for the fish was kicap with cili's and onions. And the fish was simply cooked but heavenly ---I forgot all about the rice when I had it and ate it on its own. But it could also be that I was really hungry from the very long jet ride.

For now, I will say this is the best ikan bakar in the whole of Malaysia, until I try that glamorous Ana Ikan Bakar one in Bangi first for comparison purposes. The place did crowed up a bit after dark and the atmosphere was friendly and Melaka-ish, possibly because the main topic of our conversation was mostly Hang Jebat and Hang Tuah and who was guilty of treason. Will possibly come back again, try the restaurant next door  insya'Allah, and perhaps discuss a more interesting subject matter during dinner. :P 

Ala Kassim

Medan Ikan Bakar Alai, Melaka

Cleanliness: C (forget the surau in the compound, use the masjid)

Price:  I wouldn't know. Around ~RM60 I guess. Thank you Izham :)

Satisfaction Level: A++ (the fish was just right with the nasi lemak)

Service: A (fast and friendly) 

Atmosphere: B+

Al-Baraka :: Awesome ALGERIAN food

Nadia checking out menu!

I really wanted to get this down today, because it's the first place I have been to in ages that's (i) new and (ii) awesomely fantastic. Miza randomly picked it, with eye's half closed, and I just amiably went along without expecting much.

The menu looked pretty similar to the legendary Saba' restaurant --which I knew is Yemeni, but the walls at this restaurant were plastered with Algerian posters. And a quick chat with the owner at the counter confirmed it. It's all Algerian. 

Mandy Fish! Ha, you didn't think fish can mandi did you?! A!

Fish Kabsah! You can't get this in Saba'! A!

Miza ordered Lamb Kabsah and I ordered Fish Kabsah simply because I've never heard anything like it before. I don't know what Miza's dish tastes like but she said it was delicious. Mine certainly was definitely delicious. And we both couldn't stop complementing our own dishes as we ate, which was funny. Heee~~ It wasn't that we didn't offer each other our orders, it's just that lamb and fish don't mix well together in our (and your) stomachs. If you had both meats, the stomach juices will only process the simplest protein (in this case the fish), so you'd be left with the lamb in your gut for days, which in time turns to toxin. There. Healthy eating tip for ya. I learnt that at a make-up workshop which I attended some 4 years back. The speaker was a nutritionist who was 40 but looked like she was 25. But then again if I had read the eating habits of the Prophet (s.a.w), I'd have found that out sooner: he (s.a.w) never ate fish with meat. Not only for the meal, but the entire day. And he's (s.a.w) never had stomach problems his entire life.

I highly recommend the place. Seriously, it's as good as Saba'--perhaps even better. Will definitely be back and try the humus, insya'Allah. Nadia said she's coming next time. She was stuck in the ACP meeting all morning. Poor thing.

Al-Baraka
Domain, Cyberjaya

Cleanliness: B+
Food: A++ Kabsah's awesome
Price: ~RM15 including drinks
Satisfaction Level: A
Service: B+
Atmosphere: B+ (good crowd)

p/s the old pictures got wiped out and these are recent pictures when I went there with Nadia December 4th 2012!  

Secret Recipe: A Fish & Chippies Day

Kak Sarina and Miza waiting for our chippies

I sincerely miss my S2, I really do, and I am bummed that a few droplets of water by the sink drowned it and scrapped the warranty that came with it. We had some good times me and he. The Samsung service guy called me with awful news. Touchscreens are way to expensive to replace, you might as well get a new phone he says. Didn't he know my S2 is irreplaceble? 

But of course it is not, Allah just has better plans. He always does. Whenever He takes away something or --someone for that matter, He always replaces it with something/one even better. Every single time. Never fails. And now, I am using my mom's redundant Galaxy Tab. See. And by default every caller goes straight to speakerphone. Yay. Hands-free~~ No  more private phone calls. Whatsapp me ok people.

So now, I am looking at the picture folder I had downloaded into my PC just before my S2 succumbed to water. The pictures here were taken way back before Kak Sarina had her baby. There was a SALE at Mothercare's and Miza has a membership card. ____________________ .

We--out of nowehere--suddenly found ourselves at Secret Recipe Alamanda. And fish and chips, although fried, weren't soaked in MSG (I am an anti-MSG activist nowadays). Not to mention, fish and chips are so British, it brings back warm memories of cold winds, frozen puddles, hail stones and stiff jaws (stress from all that PhD write-up)....so we all of us ordered the same thing. Of course the size of the fish are like dwarfs compared to the gigantic pieces of fish they serve over there. But hey. It was delicious.



Random pic from Health magazine: salmon,
dark chocolate, berries and eggs are
good for you~~



From Umar: Allah's Messenger (s.a.w) said: "Eat together, and do not separate, for the blessing is in the company." Ibn Mäja

Alamanda has the best
Secret Recipe 


Cleanliness: A
Price: ~RM15
Satisfaction Level: B+
Service: B+
Atmosphere: B+